How Is God Described In The Bible
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The Bible defines God this way: God is love . In his simple but sublime statement, John reaches the height of Christian belief. The attribute of love is a veritable part of Gods essential nature without it He would not be God. His nature never changes love has been His dominant quality in the past and will continue to be in the future.
The statement that God is love is essential for understanding the plan of salvation. Only Love would give free will to His creatures and run the risk of incurring the suffering that sin has brought to the Godhead. Only Love would be interested in gaining the cheerful voluntary service of those who were free to go their own way.
And when sin came, only Love could have the patience and the will to devise a plan that would enable the universe to come to a full understanding of the basic facts in the great controversy between good and evil, and thus ensure against any further uprising of self-seeking and hate. In the warfare against sin, God, being truly love, can use only truth and love, whereas Satan employs cunning lies and cruel force.
In His service,
To Work In Gods Image Is To Work In Relationship With Others
A consequence we see in Genesis of being created in Gods image is that we work in relationship with God and one another. We have already seen that God is inherently relational , so as images of a relational God, we are inherently relational. The second part of Genesis 1:27 makes the point again, for it speaks of us not individually but in twos, Male and female he created them. We are in relationship with our creator and with our fellow creatures. These relationships are not left as philosophical abstractions in Genesis. We see God talking and working with Adam in naming the animals . We see God visiting Adam and Eve in the garden at the time of the evening breeze .
How does this reality impact us in our places of work? Above all, we are called to love the people we work with, among, and for. The God of relationship is the God of love . One could merely say that “God loves,” but Scripture goes deeper to the very core of God’s being as Love, a love flowing back and forth among the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. This love also flows out of God’s being to us, doing nothing that is not in our best interest .
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Imageand Parenthood In Gen : 267 And Gen : 13
Given the dead end which examination of the Genesis 1 text seems to have reached, we may turn to Gen. 5:3, which also uses and in close proximity to each other. There, Adam is declared to have fathered a son in his own image and likeness. While several scholars have emphasized the physicality which this passage highlights with regard to the Hebrew meaning of both and , it is actually suggestive of far more: this statement, which connects the and of Seth to his father and begetter/creator Adam, elucidates the similar statement concerning humanity being in the and of its creator, God. That statement, in factthat humanity is made in the image of Godoccurs not only in Gen. 1:267 , but is reiterated in Gen. 5:1 , immediately preceding the statement about Adam and Seth. The chapters direct connection between the and of Adam and Seth and the of God and validates such extrapolation as may be possible from the AdamSeth situation to the general question of the content of the and . Specifically: the description of humans as in Gods and in the same terms used to describe Seths connection to Adam is an attempt to draw a parallel between the fatherson relationship of 5:3, between Adam and Seth, and the divinehuman relationship of 1:267 and 5:1.
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God Gives Us The Holy Spirit Because He Wants Us To Be Filled With His Love
And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.
Have you ever had someone in your life you loved so much that you wanted to be with them all the time? God feels that way about you. Not only does God love you and want a relationship with you, but He wants to be present in every moment of your life.
When you begin a relationship with God, the Holy Spirit comes into your life. He is with you through the good and the bad. You can choose to ignore the Holy Spirits influence, but He will never leave you. He is always waiting for you to turn back and seek His comfort, wisdom and guidance.
The Holy Spirit can help you experience and have a deeper understanding of Gods love for you. His presence in your life means you are never on your own.
What Does God Want From Me
If God created the entire universe as a place to accommodate human beings, He must have had some sort of plan in mind. The Bible says God wants as many people as possible to choose to love Him and spend eternity with Him.Since God’s standard for behavior is perfection in thought and deed, we are going to find it very difficult to meet God’s standard on our own. However, since God loves us so much, He has provided another means by which we can attain perfection. Jesus, as God, took on the form of a human being and lived on the earth in the first century . Besides teaching, His main purpose was to provide the ultimate sacrifice for sins , by living a completely sinless life , dying on a cross , and rising from the dead . It is through belief in Jesus and His sacrifice for sins that one is declared righteous and free from sin.1 One who believes in Jesus follows Him,2 being indwelt by theHoly Spirit, who guides Christians as they become conformed to the image of Christ . So, those who believe in Jesus are declared righteous and will spend eternity with Him in heaven.
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Lesson : The Gospel Of God: Described
The late, great British preacher, Martyn Lloyd-Jones opened a sermon on Pauls phrase, the gospel of God, by stating his fear that we are often so familiar with certain words, such as gospel, or so academic in our approach to them, that we are not thrilled and moved to the depths of our being by the wonder of it all . The gospel of God is the theme of Romans and Paul describes it here . I hope that God uses these verses to move us to deeper love for Him.
Romans 1:1-7 is one long and difficult to diagram sentence in the Greek text. Paul begins by identifying himself then he describes what he calls the gospel of God next he explains how that gospel goes to the nations through Pauls apostleship and, finally , he greets the saints in Rome. Well only be able to cover verses 2-4 in this message.
Last week we saw that the gospel comes to us from God. Paul did not make it up. God originated the gospel. And the gospel is all about God. It tells us how we can be rightly related to Him through His eternal Son, whom He sent. To continue, Paul shows:
The gospel of God was promised in the Scriptures and it centers in Gods Son.
To Work In Gods Image Is To Exercise Dominion
A consequence we see in Genesis of being created in Gods image is that we are to have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth . As Ian Hart puts it, “Exercising royal dominion over the earth as God’s representative is the basic purpose for which God created man…. Man is appointed king over creation, responsible to God the ultimate king, and as such expected to manage and develop and care for creation, this task to include actual physical work.” Our work in Gods image begins with faithfully representing God.
As we exercise dominion over the created world, we do it knowing that we mirror God. We are not the originals but the images, and our duty is to use the originalGodas our pattern, not ourselves. Our work is meant to serve Gods purposes more than our own, which prevents us from domineering all that God has put under our control.
Creation and CreativityTheology of Work Project Biblical Studies edtor Sean McDonough explores what it means to exercise dominion in God’s image, rather than domination. |
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To Work In Gods Image Is To Bear Fruit And Multiply
Since we are created in Gods image, we are to be fruitful, or creative. This is often called the creation mandate or cultural mandate. God brought into being a flawless creation, an ideal platform, and then created humanity to continue the creation project. God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth . God could have created everything imaginable and filled the earth himself. But he chose to create humanity to work alongside him to actualize the universes potential, to participate in Gods own work. It is remarkable that God trusts us to carry out this amazing task of building on the good earth he has given us. Through our work God brings forth food and drink, products and services, knowledge and beauty, organizations and communities, growth and health, and praise and glory to himself.
A good question to ask ourselves is whether we are working more productively and beautifully. History is full of examples of people whose Christian faith resulted in amazing accomplishments. If our work feels fruitless next to theirs, the answer lies not in self-judgment, but in hope, prayer, and growth in the company of the people of God. No matter what barriers we facefrom within or withoutby the power of God we can do more good than we could ever imagine.
A True Understanding Of God Comes From Only One Source
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“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” .
Most people have their own distinctive opinions of a Supreme Being. But where do these impressions come from? Many are simply reflections of how people perceive Godbased on what they’ve heard from others and their own reasoning. As a consequence the word God has come to embody a range of meanings, many of them quite foreign to the Bible.
So which meaning is the true one? How does the Creator reveal Himself to man?
God reveals Himself in His Word, the Bible . The Bible is a book about God and His relationship with human beings. The Scriptures contain a long history of God’s revelation of Himself to manfrom the first man Adam to the prophet and lawgiver Moses down through the apostles of Jesus Christ and the early Church.
In contrast to many human assumptions, the Bible communicates a true picture of God. This remarkable book reveals what He is like, what He has done and what He expects of us. It tells us why we are here and reveals His little-understood plan for His creation. This handbook of basic knowledge is fundamentally different from any other source of information. It is genuinely unique because it contains, in many ways, the very signature of the Almighty.
But, great as He is, God is not unapproachable. He is not beyond our reach. We can come to know our magnificent Creator!
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Never Improving Already Perfect
The Bible states, God is not a man, that he should lie neither the son of man, that he should repent . To deny the immutability of God, some have pointed to the biblical accounts of God repenting. A close look at these accounts reveals that it was men, not God, that changed. When men sinned, God was consistent in his nature to judge sin. The word repent used in these references refers to an expression of sorrow rather than a change of character or nature.
When men sought to live for God, God was still consistent in his nature to reward believers. The changing life-styles of men caused the consistent behavior of God to appear to change, but the change was not in God. God is unchangeable
Even When Things Seem Hopeless You Can Hope In God Because He Loves You
I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness His mercies begin afresh each morning.
Even if you are in the midst of a difficult time or are grieving a great loss, there is still reason for hope. Everything around you may feel like its falling apart. Everything inside of you may feel like its falling apart. But Gods love and mercy will never fail you.
Ask God to give you hope because of His never-ending love. Ask Him to fill you with His peace that is more powerful than all of the hard things in your life. Every day is a new opportunity to receive Gods mercy and love.
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The Nature Of God: How God Exists
As we have seen, if one looks at the evidence with an open mind, the evidence declares that God truly does exist. But how? Whats the fundamental nature of God like? How exactly does He exist? Is He personal, or simply an impersonal force? Is He spirit, material, or a combination? In this section we are making a difference for clarity sake between the attributes or perfections of God like love, grace, sovereignty, and the fundamental nature in which God exists as personality, spirit, and triunity. Following this, we will look at the fundamental attributes or perfections of God.
The Personality of God
The Polemic of Gods PersonalityWhat It Protects Us Against
The truth of Gods personality stands opposed to impersonal pantheism and all the impersonal ideas of God as found in many various cults and in the mysticism of todays world, especially as seen in the New Age Movement. New Age thinking says God is the ground of all being, or God is the force, or the planetary consciousness in human beings. Hunt describes New Age thinking as a new openness to one another, to ourselves, to nature, to a universal Force pervading the whole cosmoswhich produces an awakening of unimagined powers of the mind.24
Important to all of this is the fact that God, according to the Bible, is both transcendent and immanent.
Psalm 115:3 But our God is in the heavens He does whatever He pleases.
Definition and Explanation of Personality
Biblical Support for the Personality of God
Bible Verses About Gods Appearance
Bible verses related to Gods Appearance from the King James Version by Relevance
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The Son Of Man And The Son Of God
Jesus Christ is called “the Son of Man” more than 80 times in the New Testament. It was the term He most commonly used in referring to Himself.
Christ repeatedly referred to Himself as the Son of Man in connection with His sufferings and sacrificial death for the sins of mankind .
Sympathizing with our human frailties and difficulties, Jesus tells us: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” .
He also called Himself the Son of Man when referring to His role as the future Ruler of humanity in the coming Kingdom of God (Matthew 19:28Matthew 19:28And Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, That you which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
American King James Version×).
Indeed, while Jesus was human in the fullest sense, He was also more than simply humanfor He was, in fact, the divine Son of God with all that name implies. Indeed, as we have seen, He was the Creator God come in the flesh. And after His human life was over, He returned to the divine glory He shared with the Father from eternity past .